I had colon cancer at 27. These are the symptoms to watch out for

A woman who was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at age 27 has revealed her early warning signs amid a mystery uptick in cases in younger adults.

Vanessa Mendico, now 29, described herself as a 'super fit' person who exercised five or six times a week, ate healthily, didn't smoke and only rarely drank alcohol.

But the youth worker, who lives in Australia, became concerned after specs of blood started to appear in her feces in February last year.

Doctors initially put her on a two-year waitlist for tests, but three months later they moved the scan forward after she began suffering from severe cramps and a change in bowel movements. These revealed a peach-sized tumor in her rectum.

Ms Mendico's cancer is now in remission after surgery to remove the tumor and nine rounds of chemotherapy. Her case comes as colon cancer diagnoses mysteriously rise among young adults, with doctors stumped as to what could be the cause.

Colon cancer is normally seen as a disease of the old, with more than half of diagnoses being among people aged 65 years and over.